The Norwegian Language

Norwegian is spoken by roughly 5 million people worldwide, the vast majority of which live in Norway (99.5%)1. Norwegian has two official, mutually-intelligible forms: Dano-Norwegian (Bokmål, or Riksmål) and New Norwegian (Nynorsk).

Dano-Norwegian comes out of the centuries-long union of Norway and Denmark, which ended in 1814 when Denmark ceded Norway to Sweden. According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, Dano-Norwegian has become the dominant written form of the language within Norway with all national newspapers, magazines and most literature choosing to use it.2 New Norwegian, on the other hand, was created in the 19th century by Ivar Aasen. This form of the language combined many of the dialects found in Western Norway and the mountain districts of Eastern Norway, which still retained the traditional aspects of Old Norse.3

Even though only a small percentage of Norwegians use New Norwegian in its written form, their actual speech patterns, which tend toward local dialects not heavily influenced by Danish, come closer to this vernacular form of the language than does Dano-Norwegian.

Below are some brief but important facts about Norway and its people:

Capital: Oslo
Currency: Norwegian krone (NOK)
Government Type: Constitutional monarchy
Population: 4,574,560 (July 2004 est.)
Internet Country Code: .no
Internet Hosts: 593,850 (2004)
Internet Users: 2.288 million (2002)

For additional demographic information on the countries listed here, you can check out the following link:
http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/no.html

For information on The Norwegian Writing System, please see our Quick Facts Library.

  1. "NORWEGIAN, BOKMAAL: a language of Norway" Ethnologue.com
    http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=NRR
    [Accessed December 2, 2004]
  2. "Norwegian language" Encyclopædia Britannica from Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service.
    http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?tocId=9056305
    [Accessed December 2, 2004]
  3. "Norwegian language" Encyclopædia Britannica from Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service.
    http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?tocId=9056305
    [Accessed December 2, 2004]